This invention relates to inferring information about website users. Social networking websites, or websites with a social networking-like structure, are becoming increasingly popular meeting places for Internet users. The first social networking website, Classmates.com, started operating in 1995 and has been followed by many other social networking websites that provide similar functionality. It is estimated that combined there are now several hundred social networking sites.
Typically, in these social networking communities, an initial set of founders sends out messages inviting members of their own personal networks to join the site. New members repeat the process, growing the total number of members and connections in the network. The social networking websites then offer features such as automatic address book updates, viewable profiles, the ability to form new connections through “introduction services,” and other forms of online social connections, such as business connections. Newer social networking websites on the Internet are becoming more focused on niches, such as travel, art, tennis, soccer, golf, cars, dog owners, and so on. Other social networking sites focus on local communities, sharing local business and entertainment reviews, news, event calendars and happenings.
Most of the social networking websites on the Internet are public, allowing anyone to join. When a user joins the social networking website, that is, when the user becomes a member of the social networking website, the user typically enters his information on a profile page. The information typically pertains to various aspects of the user's demographic information (for example, gender, age, education, place of living, interests, employment, reasons for joining the social networking website, and so on).
A portion of the members do not report their demographic information (for example, their age) at social networking websites. Some members only reveal partial information (for example, their date of birth but not the year), while others report completely false information. For example, at one social networking website, some 15-20% of the members report their age to be 6 or 7 years old, which is known to be inaccurate. For a number of reasons, it would be beneficial to have more accurate demographic information for the members of a social networking website or a website with a social networking-like structure.